Facebook and Work Probs

Tell her in person commenting about work on Facebook is not ever a good idea, and then ask her to come out with it.
The fact is, people can and do get fired for comments made about work on Facebook.
In some cases, they are fired simply because HR feels Facebook page content, not even work related, does not fit with a company/corporate image.
There's many a teenager who has to have their data scrubbed (deleted) before they can land a job.
"What happens in FB stays out of office" - sorry but the statement does not reflect what actually happens.
If this person does not want it to happen to them, they'd better wise up.

I would ignore it, especially since you say that she has a history of blaming others. I have had employees like this who just seem to like creating drama or drawing attention to themselves. If it isn't important enough for her to bring up to you at work, then it isn't important enough for you to bring it up either. If she ever asks you about it, i would tell her it is completely inappropriate to air the company's dirty laundry on FB and that you were trying to be kind by not making a big deal out of it.

Good luck

I just wrote out a detailed response, but somehow, I hit the wrong button, and it got lost. So, here's my best attempt at re-creating it:

1. Regardless of how you found out about it, you are now aware of some type of problem with your employees.

2. As the supervisor, you are responsible for dealing with work-related problems and issues with your employees.

3. If you don't address it now, while it's likely a small problem, as you mentioned, if it blows up later, the fingers will point at you....especially if this ends up involving some kind of harassment, EEO or similar complaint.

4. You HR director and your direct supervisor should be consulted---to make them aware and to seek direction on the next step. This protects you, as well, if it turns into something bigger.

5. The employee who posted on FB, at the very least, should be made aware that social media is not the proper place to air work-related problems, and should be reminded of the proper chain of command for work-related complaints.

6. Your company should review its policy with respect to social media and the workplace (or devise one if it is lacking) and educate staff.

(My .02 here: Social media is a relatively new phenomenon, but it's so pervasive and such a part of so many people's lives, especially the younger generation, that some don't realize there are limits when it comes to the interface between their professional lives and their "free speech" on social media. Anyone who thinks social media is private and separate from work is out of touch with the reality of the work/professional world).

7. Document what you did to address this problem.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

J. F.

I would email her from your work account and let her know that she should not use FB to communicate about workplace issues. Invite her to discuss the issue with you face-to-face, or via email, but absolutely not via FB.

Sorry, but if she really wanted to keep her mouth shut, she wouldn't have posted it on FB. I would bring it up your HR department if you have one, and if not, pull her aside and tell her you saw her post and let her take it from there.

Added - Excellent advice, Julie F - VERY professsional - the way things should be handled in an office.

Original:
I think that before you call her into your office, you might want to run this by HR. See what they say. That way you've dotted your i's and crossed your t's.

Good luck~
Dawn

She posted it, she knows you saw it, it may be her way to cross the line so she doesn't really have to come right out and make a meeting to report it. Kind of a back way of getting it to your attention without going all the way.

She may just not have the courage to come right out and make the report official. I think you might message her privately and tell her you saw her post and is there anything you can do. You know how hard it is to make an "official" complaint and will try to give her some guidance if she wants to try to work it out on her own.

If you do it on FB it's less official, if you wait and do it at work then it becomes totally a work issue and she may not be ready for that.

You should pull her aside and tell her that you saw that she was addressing these issues on FB, and just give her a heads up that it might come back to bite her to do this so publicly. Then, leave it alone. Don't try to get her to tell you about it, because it did not come up in the context of the workplace. As difficult as it might be, part of your job as supervisor is to maintain a line between work and play. If she's not saying it at work, then, as her supervisor, don't press the issue. As her friend, you should tell her to be careful with her posts.

If it's on FB, it's public. Completely inappropriate for work issues.

The employee probably put it out there as an impersonal way of letting you know. It's kind of a passive-aggressive manner but you need to call her out on it. Call her into your office, say you saw it (print it out right now so you have documentation) and discuss. Deal with the problem as it exists, then deal with the use of public media to publicize it, and ask what the purpose was of putting it out there. How does that resolve the problem?

If your company has a social media policy, inform her of it. If there is no policy, speak to your boss about setting one.

Once it's on the internet, it's there forever, and the employee can't take it back. Explain this.

Your own guidelines for use of FB sound well thought out.

Julie F. has it well-expressed.

The person who is complaining in FB hasn't approached you. The person about whom complaints are running in FB hasn't approached you.

FB is a social networking site. What happens in FB, stays out of office and professional conditions. Treat it the same way.

If the person who is complaining, decides to approach you at work, then address their issue. And when that happens, also point out to them that it is unprofessional of him/her to use FB to discuss work colleagues, and tell them that as a supervisor, you'd recommend them to remove such postings.

What if you didnt have FB? You would never be the wiser.
That's how I would treat it.
Unfortunately you are now burdened with this tidbit of insight, but use it for your own good. Do NOT say, "well I saw on FB....".... that would not be professional at all whatsoever.
FB is like gossip. You can hear it and not pass it on, or you can make it worse by contributing to it.

I am facebook friends with some of my current and former students (I teach at a small college). My rule about facebook is I do not ever add any students, but will accept them if they add me. I also ignore all the grumbling and complaining I see regarding their school experience (it generally doesn't have anything to do with me specifically). If I were to see something that I thought could potentially be a dangerous situation I would act on it and call the student in, but everything else I ignore. Facebook serves as a way for people to vent, or to get attention. There's no way to know if what you are reading is even accurate. I'd pretend like you didn't see it, unless it gets more serious. You might check with HR to see what company policy is on fb and work issues.

She posted it, she knows you saw it, it may be her way to cross the line so she doesn't really have to come right out and make a meeting to report it. Kind of a back way of getting it to your attention without going all the way.

She may just not have the courage to come right out and make the report official. I think you might message her privately and tell her you saw her post and is there anything you can do. You know how hard it is to make an "official" complaint and will try to give her some guidance if she wants to try to work it out on her own.

If you do it on FB it's less official, if you wait and do it at work then it becomes totally a work issue and she may not be ready for that.

I would give her a day or two (maybe this long weekend) to think it over. Then, if she hasn't come to you, you should go to her and say something like "Susan, I am not telling you what to do in your personal life but being friends with you on FB I was able to see you post regarding Lisa. As the direct supervisor to both of you, I have this knowledge that I can't "unknow". I need you to come clean with it so I can address it appropriately and not through FB." At some point you should also "caution her regarding work related posts". The other option would be to comment via FB (privately) "Suzy, I saw you post. You have now told me (indirectly) and if you want me to address this I need you to come to me officially. If not, I am asking that you please remove it or block me from the post".

The problem I see with doing nothing (as others have suggested) is that if it is bigger issue or becomes one, your knowledge and lack of action could be a proble for you.

Thing is other than me people usually remember they have co workers on their Facebook. It sounds like she was trying to find out should she bother telling you. So yeah, you may want to just ask what is going on.

I forget a have a couple of co workers on my Facebook because they were added as friends. It is kind of funny when I post something at work and they joke, you talking about me? Our old secretary just would never shut up in the morning and she has this voice you cannot ignore. So I posted on my Facebook shutup! shutup! shutup! Jennifer comes over, you talking about me. Yeah you are in the other building!!

Ignore it. I'm a supervisor and I don't bring up to my employees what happens on their FB accounts and I certainly wouldn't appreciate it if anyone did that to me.